Latvia has denied entry to a Russian journalist who took third place in an EU competition and was rewarded with a three-day trip to Riga, Latvia's Telegraf newspaper reported on Monday.

Andrei Vypolzov, who writes for Russia's Regnum online news agency, came third in the category of print and online media in a competition last year to celebrate the EU's 50th anniversary, the Russian-language paper said.

He first applied for a visa at the Latvian consulate in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, but had his documents returned to him due to 'mistakes' in his application form. His second application resulted in a refusal.

The European Commission had paid for Vypolzov's return flight to the Latvian capital, and a three-day stay at a hotel, the paper reported.

Another Russian reporter, Dmitry Yermolayev, editor in chief of Rossiiskiye Vesti, was also recently denied a Latvian visa. His visa was annulled by Latvian authorities soon after he had collected it.